PORTLAND, Ore. — COVID-19 vaccinations continue into the new year with more than 44,000 people in Oregon receiving the first dose so far.
Some of those people are living and working in long-term care facilities.
Carol Biskupic Knight is a teacher in Beaverton, whose husband lives in a memory care facility. John Knight was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at age 57.
In order to maintain contact with him, Biskupic Knight has maintained a strict routine over the last nine months, staying isolated. More recently, she has started getting weekly COVID-19 tests.
John Knight recently recovered from coronavirus after an outbreak at his facility. That interrupted visiting options again for Biskupic Knight.
"When I saw the first shots being given on TV, it brought tears to my eyes to think that there is this possibility," she said.
Under the Oregon Health Authority's (OHA) phase 1A, skilled nursing homes, long-term care facilities and memory care facilities have priority for the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Because those are where our very worst outbreaks have been," OHA Director Patrick Allen said during an online panel discussion this week.
He explained vulnerable seniors and people with underlying conditions living close together are at higher risk.
"They represent collectively about 40% of the deaths in Oregon that we've seen throughout the pandemic," Allen said.
CVS, Walgreens, and Oregon-based Consonus Pharmacy are organizing vaccination clinics.
Vulnerable patients and caretakers are up first, then people in assisted living, followed by retirement communities.
"It's built around who's the most at-risk. The most fragile or compromised," explained Phil Fogg of Marquis Companies, which runs Consonus.
Consonus has already started with first-dose vaccinations.
Most care facilities have been planning this for a while, but have faced unknown timelines for vaccine availability.
Oregon's Department of Human Services explained facilities must register online as part of the national CDC vaccination priority program.
Pharmacy providers then reach out to arrange logistics and scheduling.
Many care and retirement communities are already in line, but it will take several months before all Oregon seniors and long-term patients are fully vaccinated.
Carol Biskupic Knight is crossing her fingers. If all goes to schedule, her husband's memory care facility should start vaccinations next week.
"But we'll see if the vaccine ends up getting there," she said.